These were labeled the “new domains” to connote their relative newness to the well-established com/net/org trio that rose to prominence with the internet’s global adoption. Afilias, who manage the .info web address, just released their annual dotINFO report for 2010.

The report highlights very substantial growth for the .info web address for year 2010. The domain space grew 30% in 2010 pushing total registrations for .info to over 6.8 million. DomainTools‘ report of current internet domain registration numbers puts .info at over 7.3 million as of 12/7/2010.

The Afilias annual study announced that dotINFO currently ranks # 7 among 270 top level domains available worldwide. dotINFO has over 1.3 million live, active websites available to internet users at the present time. 

Also continuing along the same path as .info are the .biz (business) and .US (United States) web addresses each of which have continued to increase their global registration numbers and be readily adopted by local, regional, national and global companies.

To browse premium quality .info domain names, visit: PremiumDomains.US

Ron Jackson of DNJournal publishes a weekly domain name sales report, and I noticed that the last entry on his report was the sale of Oracle.info. Naturally, I wondered if perhaps Oracle Corp. had acquired the domain name. They did indeed purchase Oracle.info for a mere $1377. Quite a nice pick-up for the company who had also previously acquired “Oracle” in the .BIZ web address and also in the official .mobi (mobile) extension. In fact, the company have a fully developed .mobi complaint site in operation. Their .biz and .info versions are currently forwarding to the Oracle.com primary website.

As .INFO is one of the world’s leading web addresses based on sheer registration numbers (nearly 7 million), it is certainly logical that Oracle Corporation would obtain Oracle.info at such an affordable price. This rounds out their company domain portfolio quite well.

It should be noted that Oracle is a generic word typically meaning “a person or thing which acts as an agent of divine communication”. Consequently, Oracle Corporation would have no automatic trademark right to the word “oracle”. It’s good to see a company of their size using a legitimate avenue (aftermarket purchase) to acquire Oracle.info as opposed to misusing the UDRP in a reverse domain name hijacking attempt.

Menius Enterprises, Inc. recently acquired the premium domain, www.Condos.info. In researching general condo sites online, I discovered a pretty keen concentration of realty professionals across the USA using the dotINFO web address for major real estate portals.

The first site I noticed was quite impressive in its incredible depth of content, SouthBeachCondos.info, which is a perfect geo-targeted domain name for the South Beach Miami area.

Another Florida-focused .info realty site is BeauSoleilCondos.info which focuses on Winter Park, Florida. Contemporary condo designs and urban living are hallmark features of the Beau Soleil residences which range in size from 952 sq. ft. to 1768 sq. ft. Again, a logical & marketable domain name being utilized.

Even Canadian realtors are embracing .info as evidenced by Christine Louw’s CoalHarbourCondos.info which is a luxury condo site for Vancouver’s premier waterfront location, Coal Harbour. Located in British Columbia, Canada.

For the curious, condo sales have been on the rise for several months now in favored markets such as Manhattan, Florida, and metro cities along the west coast.

Of interest to domainers is their use of the .info web address as the portal to the Bank of America Corporate Center at 100 N. Tryon Street. The official website address is TheCorporateCenter.info and it contains essential facts and “information” about the facility.

The Corporate Center is a landmark in Charlotte standing above every other skyscraper and visible for many miles as one approaches North Carolina’s Queen city. The building weighs 300 million pounds. It was completed in 1992 and took the combined efforts of several architectural firms to finalize its ultimate design and plan of construction.

Bank of America is the largest bank in the United States. With its headquarters now in Charlotte, Charlotte is regarded as the second largest financial center in the USA behind only New York City.

The .info web address is ideal for business purposes as well as a good general purpose domain for city & state websites, specific subjects, and the hotel & travel industry. .INFO is an unrestricted domain and may be registered by anyone in the world. .INFO currently enjoys 6,817,548 global registrations making it one of the leading domain name extensions in the world. .INFO is managed by the Afilias Registry.

* Visit PremiumDomains.US to browse premium quality .info domain names.

Proponents of internet gambling claim government hypocrisy in that states sponsor lotteries which bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. Some states profit from gambling on horse racing while also hosting gambling casinos that bring in enormous amounts of money and which financially benefit the local economy.

Another notable .INFO sale via Sedo this past week was coupons.info which went for an impressive $17,600. Relationship.net was purchased at Snapnames for $12,950.

Neustar, who manage the .US domain space, posted an announcement on their website that they are seeking to release one and two character .US domain names. Neustar did something similar last year with the .BIZ (Business) top level domain which resulted in a number of five figure sales.

• Related domain names of interest: InternetGambling.biz
• And in the dating, relationship area: InternetDating.US

The company is operating off of websites at Lockheed.info and Lockheed.com. Actually, the .com site is LockheedMartin.com and Lockheed.com forwards to that whereas Lockheed.info is a self-standing site on its own. Some of the links there track back to the LockheedMartin.com site particularly in regard to the jobs availability page.

The .info and .com sites appear to mirror each other. Lockheed Martin have also registered variations on their name in the .US, .biz, and .mobi extensions. Most likely to prevent trademark infringement by cybersquatters.

However, it is nice to see a multi-billion dollar global corporation actually using the .info version of their company name. Afilias.info are the official registry and overseer of the .info web address which currently totals 5,595,978 domain name registrations worldwide.

Afilias

Over the years, Afilias have occasionally used several promotions to boost .info registrations such as free first year registration and the 2009 .INFO Website Awards contest.

North America presently accounts for 61% of all .info domain registrations and European countries comprise 23%. The United States and Germany are # 1 and # 2, respectively, for registration numbers by country. Rounding out positions 3, 4, and 5 are the U.K., France, and Canada which demonstrate broad international appeal and global support of the .info web address.

A beautiful .info geo domain profiled here earlier in the year was Spain.info. There are many interesting and well developed .info sites across the internet such as PropertySlides.info, MutualFunds.info (owned by Time Inc./CNN), and Encompass.info.

Since .info represents “information“, the domain works extremely well for a wide variety of applications including many general topics, health & science, business & industry, and city or state websites. 

Having become the 7th most registered domain in the world, .info has established itself as a very significant player on the internet world stage.

LowerManhattan.info was sold around 2003 by Dr. Tariq Ghafoor, an experienced and successful domain name developer and speculator. The domain went for 4-figures back then and was acquired by The Lower Manhattan Command Construction Center (LMCCC).

The LMCCC are the primary information resource for a multitude of Lower Manhattan construction projects aimed at revitalizing the area in a 20+ billion reconstruction. LowerManhattan.info is the LMCCC‘s official website.

The site is very well designed and contains a wealth of information including construction advisories, air monitoring, manhattan downtown news, rebuilding & traffic/transit info, as well as maps and pictures of Manhattan reconstruction.

* Related domains from the PremiumDomains.US portfolio include: ManhattanRealEstate.info, and ManhattanRealEstate.biz

Internet-related law has become a specialty area as commerce has moved online over the past decade. Internet lawyers have special knowledge of intricate internet laws & regulations stemming from multiple jurisdictions.

Similar past sales of comparable domains include: InternetLawyer.net $1300, HoustonLawyers.biz $1000, Lawyers.biz $2500. For more choices in the legal domain name category, visit the Legal Domains section of PremiumDomains.US.

$7,500 was awarded for first place to Thueringen.info (a travel site serving Germany). Second place, with a prize of $5,000, was awarded to GPS-Tour.info (a website where individuals can share and download outdoor GPS tours). In third place was Turkel.info, a travel & tourism marketing site, taking $3,000 for their efforts.

There are currently 5,428,453 .info domain names registered around the world. Fully developed sites and services are being launched on a daily basis due to the gradual adoption and popularity of the .info web space.

For those of you who are interested in the .info domain name, check out Spain.info. It’s a beautifully designed website & portal for the country of Spain that exemplifies the logic behind the .info domain name extension.

DevHub was created by Evo Media Group and its goal is to provide easy content creation (and editing) with less complexity than is normally required for custom html coding.

I have found that one can put up a basic, somewhat generic site with relative ease and which provides some desireable user functionality. However, you can introduce custom graphics and more sophisticated features if willing to invest more time in the development.

Development itself is a process which often evolves in stages. DevHub allows you the option of working effectively within time constraints since you can start off with a basic website that can grow. For a large portfolio owner, developing all of one’s domain properties can be a time intensive process.  Premium domain names deserve quality attention & development, but often must begin as a simple concept that will become more complete with future development.

Charlotte.US is an example of a time intensive website that takes many weeks to complete (even on the user-friendly WordPress format). By contrast, a website like Raleigh.info can be built with DevHub in about 5 to 8 hours. Below (and pictured right) are a variety of websites I developed in the last few weeks. All of them were done on DevHub. None of them are in their final stage …

More DevHub developed sites …

• NorthCarolina.info
• CaliforniaJobs.info
• AutoRacing.biz

PremiumDomains.US

The website also divides domain names into various price points, geographical locations, and domain extensions (such as .com, .biz, .info).

In selecting domain names for development, resale or other monetization strategies, I typically look for several key characteristics before adding a domain to the portfolio.

These key “ingredients” will include a combination of the below:

• Is the domain clear, descriptive, and easy to communicate?
• Does the domain relate to a common business category?
• Is the domain name a generic word or word combination?
• Does the domain specifically avoid trademark infringement?
• Is the web address a geodomain or geo-targeted?
• Does the domain have special appeal to an audience or group?
• The domain name fits the domain extension?
• Usually avoid hyphens, typos, and uncommon abbreviations?

The various categories of domain names featured on the site are: Business | Geodomains | Hotels | Jobs | Keywords | Legal | Medical | Real Estate. Each of these categories contain high-quality, premium domain names that meet all of the criteria listed above.

Below are examples of high quality domains in various extensions:

1. .US -> Charlotte.US | Portland.US | Indianapolis.US
2. .biz -> Miami.biz | AutoRacing.biz | NewOrleans.biz
3. .info -> Indiana.info | Knowledge.info | Memphis.info
4. .com -> ColoradoSpringsApartments.com
5. .mobi -> Manhattan.mobi | Tampa.mobi | ParisFrance.mobi
6. .TV -> Albuquerque.TV | BeachHomes.TV
7. .net -> ManhattanCondo.net

Visit this link for more on Domain Portfolio Strategies & Approaches

Other North Carolina cities ranked in the top twenty nationwide including Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Wilmington, and Durham. That’s six (6) North Carolina cities in the nation’s top twenty!

Two years ago a CNBC study ranked North Carolina as having the #1 workforce in the USA. High technology, health sciences, and banking & finance are leading industries here in North Carolina.

Raleigh is the state capitol and the second largest city. North Carolina is now the 10th most populated state with around 9.2 million people. The economic climate varies across the state as some areas have been hit a little harder due to the exporting of textiles and furniture manufacturing.

However, newer industries are moving in to take the place of those that were ultimately oursourced to cheap labor. Dell, FedEx, IBM, Cisco, and Honda Jet are among a few of the newer additions having established a major presence. Bank of America is headquartered out of Charlotte.

I’m glad to be a resident of North Carolina. The state has always offered a wide variety of attractions –> beaches, mountains, quality academic institutions, sports dynasties, moderate cost of living, and great people.

Incidentally, Raleigh received this honor each of the previous two years making this year’s recognition an exceptional, enduring achievement.

Domainer

And that’s it. People have a tendency to over-explain the term, domainer. Domaining encompasses many activities associated with domain name utilization. Not just resale. Not just parking. Definitely not cybersquatting (though that exists). Domaining can include full-scale web development, or any combination of approaches. Domainers are diverse, and in my experience, often ethical and intelligent people.

Side note: Whoever wrote the current Wikipedia page on “domaining” needs to erase it and start over. The page contains too much misinformation and personal bias.

Most domainers became interested in domain names as an extension of enjoying the internet, and embracing some element of the net that was fun and exciting. Still others happened up on domaining, somewhat by accident, as a result of taking their company online and exploring things like website design and webhosting. What’s your story?

My story began with songwriting and recording music. I purchased a digital hard-disk recording system in 1992 having been a multitrack reel-to-reel guy for a number of years. In the mid-1990′s, I was recording area musicians’ CD’s, guest playing on their songs, and writing my own material which eventually led to my own CD. The internet was being discovered … usually via AOL over slow 28k modems (made only to test your patience and sanity).

I began designing a promotional website to market my music, and eventually needed to register something called a “domain name” (so people could access my music site over the net). Naturally enough, I registered my own name. Things began to take off after joining MP3.com, Billboard Music Net, and Soundclick … who all provided me featured spots on their internet charts. After some local newspaper articles on my music exploits, I decided to resign my position and take some time to move things further forward. This resulted in an unexpected detour.

As I was finishing two more songs, learning html and graphics editing, I had the proverbial epiphany (like many others!) when I heard about the multi-million dollar sales of Business.com and Loans.com. I became fascinated with the concept of what a domain name could represent, and how it could become a portal, or magnet, for people interested in a particular subject. I had been a pretty active member of music forums, and had seen the incredible way in which people separated by continents could connect. This was futuristic, and exciting. I wasn’t sure how the opportunity would take shape, but I knew something important was looming, and I wanted to join in.

Domain names seemed the most perfect, single vehicle for accessing this incredible future technology called “the internet”. But it was happening now! My local phone company was literally laying broadband cable day-after-day in the rural area where I lived. Something special was coming to America, and to the world. My innate curiosity really took off.

Having pretty much missed the boat in 1999 on true premium .com domains, I geared up & strategized to take the .info world by storm. dotINFO was the first “post-modern” .com alternative and it captured considerable attention. It made sense: .info for “information“. I got it!

So much has happened in the domain name industry, in so short a time it seems. But here we are today, 2009. And despite all that has passed, we are still near the beginning. The internet was not a fad. It’s a prolific, planet-changing technology. The .com “bust” was not some final end, but only a small hiccup in what appears to be a truly once-in-a-lifetime trip. I’m not done domaining. Are you?

Spain.info

The site is rich with colorful video, panoramic photos, interactive maps, deep content for avid readers, and all of the functionality needed to plan a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime trip.

It would appear that Spain.info draws considerable visitor traffic. The site enjoys a near top position in Google, Yahoo, and MSN search engines. A Google page rank of “7″ and 76,537 incoming Yahoo links are more than enough evidence to conclude Spain.info is providing travelers with what they need. More stats indicate that the website drew between 40,000 and 100,000 site visitors per month over the course of 2008. Impressive.

Spain.info’s designers have adapted the site for four major languages: Spanish, English, German, and French. Some of the interactive multimedia functions, which really shine, require the installation of Quicktime (if not already resident on your computer). The install is free and effortless if you’re interested.

Afilias.info is the registry that manages the .info (information) domain extension. Additional, high-quality .info geodomain websites that may interest travelers are …

• Germany.info
• Austria.info
• Peru.info
• Dublin.info
• Berlin.info
• Rome.info